Last week in our area a girl was struck and killed in a(n uncontrolled) crosswalk. The first car had stopped, and she and her friend were crossing the street, when a car came up behind the stopped car and decided not to stop - the driver swerved around the stopped car and struck the girls.

I've seen this sort of behaviour before, but luckily not resulting in injury. Tragic.

So I was about to cross the street again today at the cross walk. On the opposite side of road a police officer stopped foe me. Two drives decided to blow past me. The cop turned around, pulled both over, and gave them both tickets.

So I live in Massachusetts, and I like to walk every day. I have discovered that the most dangerous time of the year to walk is on bright summer or spring days in the middle of a cross walk. I had three memorable incidents last year, and so far this year (after the melting at least 32 inch tall snow banks) one car's sudden stop resulted in a car behind it having the swerve into oncoming traffic, which at the time wasn't oncoming because the drivers stopped for me.

I practice basic road safety and etiquette, I stop before entering the side walk, look both way, wait for cars that are going to pass even though legally they have to stop. What I want to know are appropriate gesture that I can give after they have stopped suddenly or what I should yell as they are skidding to a stop (and assuming they car hear me because there windows are open because of the warmth)?

Since this is regional I think it depends on where you are. In Cambridge everyone slams on their brakes to top for people in crosswalks. Not all crosswalks are near lights and it makes it impossible to get down some streets as you stop at the whim of every person who wants to use a crosswalk. However, I know of no other town in MA that is as rigid as Cambridge. Cars should stop, but honestly I don't always see people on the side of the road. If you're at a light I assume you're going to wait for the light to change and walk with the signs as I do. If it's in the middle of a road I'm looking at what is on the road, not the side of the road.

Driving a car is more complicated than people think and for some people it is all they can do to concentrate on other cars. Please don't yell at cars. You never know who is crazy.

So I was about to cross the street again today at the cross walk. On the opposite side of road a police officer stopped foe me. Two drives decided to blow past me. The cop turned around, pulled both over, and gave them both tickets.

That will teach them some etiquette! I hope you did your happy dance... once you had crossed safely, of course!

So I was about to cross the street again today at the cross walk. On the opposite side of road a police officer stopped foe me. Two drives decided to blow past me. The cop turned around, pulled both over, and gave them both tickets.

So glad to see safety laws being enforced!

But I have to ask: how do you know the outcome (tickets) of the traffic stops?

Cars should stop, but honestly I don't always see people on the side of the road. If you're at a light I assume you're going to wait for the light to change and walk with the signs as I do. If it's in the middle of a road I'm looking at what is on the road, not the side of the road.

All of my cases of near hit or misses have occurred while I am at cross walks, and driving a car may be complicated, but if my recent update indicates anything people need to learn to be less self absorbed. I mean these cars didn't stop while I was at a cross walk when a police officer stopped for me.

But I have to ask: how do you know the outcome (tickets) of the traffic stops?

Besides the cop turning around to chase the (which was easy for him because after blowing past me they had to stop at a light), he told me he gave them both tickets when he drove by again on his way to his original destination.

Now that I think about it I am surprised that people are speed demons on my street anyway, it is a street where the cops regularly wait too pull drivers over for going over the limit.

My latest pet peeve? Running shoppers. I drive slow through a parking lot and gauge shoppers that are walking that they won't "reach" me in time so I can keep going.

Twice this week, I see shoppers and think okay I can make it just fine coasting through when all of a sudden there are running shoppers dashing in front of me causing me to slam on my brakes. It's like where in the world did you come from. And in the second incident, dd was facing me from the passenger seat and saw one just break into a jog right in front of me again causing me to brake. Please don't do this. Walk! (never mind that this isn't even in the crosswalk either, this is in random spots from the parking lot on my left and stores on my right)

I usually walk in parking lots. The only exception being if I'm crossing a large entrance crosswalk right in front of the store and cars have stopped for me. I mean, look me in the eyes, register that I'm there, STOP for me. Then I'll jog quickly into the store or over to the curb to cross quickly so they can go about their business more quickly. I tend to walk slowly in parking lots, so I try to stay as far out of the way as possible.

I've been nearly hit in a crosswalk before. I had a white walk signal telling me to cross the street. I was going and hurried my sister and friend along, as I was the biggest person in the group and I could see a car coming. I'll admit, what I did wasn't probably the most polite, but when the driver slammed on their brakes and the tires squealed as it came to a stop RIGHT in front of me, I turned my upper body and slammed my hands down on the car's hood. Not enough to damage it, but I didn't have to move one bit to reach it. That driver was absolutely pale faced, and all I did was glare as I finished crossing the street. I was terrified, I could have sworn I was going to die, but at that point I was healing from knee issues and absolutely COULD NOT have moved any faster. If I was going to be hurt, at least the driver who couldn't slow down for pedestrians was going to see my face.

My cousins live in a small town on PEI. There was a crosswalk by Nanna's house and they would just walk across the street without looking. Thing was not only was this the main street of the town - it was also the way to a large tourist destination a couple towns down (a premire golf course). I had repeated conversations with them that their being right wasn't going to be of help when they were dead.

I grew up in the Memorial Villages. When I was still in elementary school my parents and other concerned citizens had pipes put in the ditches and used the reclaimed land for a hike and bike trail. It is illegal to ride your bike on the road, where the hike and bike trail parallels the road, has been for over 30 years. Still I saw someone getting a ticket last week. Thing is the hike and bike trail is in BETTER condition than the very narrow road.

In San Angelo I saw what could have been a much worst accident. A girl on a bicycle blew through a stop sign. The teenage driver coming around the curve could not stop in time - she was already going below the speed limit and did slow down significantly. The girl on the bike was able to walk away - literally she tried to walk home. We made her sit down and wait for the fire and police.

The cop wrote the bike rider a ticket for failing to stop at a stop sign. Some of the neighbors were upset at him ticketing a 10 yo. He told me he did it to protect the 17 yo driver - so there would be a paper trail saying she did not break the law. It was a 35 MPH zone - he estimated she managed to slow down to 5mph after coming around the curve which was just a short distance from the intersection. She told me later that she had started sneezing and had taken her foot of the gas and was slowing down because of that. A neighbor realized that a bush in her yard had blocked the view of the bike, so she transplanted that closer to the house and planted lower plants the other bed.

So I live in Massachusetts, and I like to walk every day. I have discovered that the most dangerous time of the year to walk is on bright summer or spring days in the middle of a cross walk. I had three memorable incidents last year, and so far this year (after the melting at least 32 inch tall snow banks) one car's sudden stop resulted in a car behind it having the swerve into oncoming traffic, which at the time wasn't oncoming because the drivers stopped for me.

I practice basic road safety and etiquette, I stop before entering the side walk, look both way, wait for cars that are going to pass even though legally they have to stop. What I want to know are appropriate gesture that I can give after they have stopped suddenly or what I should yell as they are skidding to a stop (and assuming they car hear me because there windows are open because of the warmth)?

Since this is regional I think it depends on where you are. In Cambridge everyone slams on their brakes to top for people in crosswalks. Not all crosswalks are near lights and it makes it impossible to get down some streets as you stop at the whim of every person who wants to use a crosswalk. However, I know of no other town in MA that is as rigid as Cambridge. Cars should stop, but honestly I don't always see people on the side of the road. If you're at a light I assume you're going to wait for the light to change and walk with the signs as I do. If it's in the middle of a road I'm looking at what is on the road, not the side of the road.

Driving a car is more complicated than people think and for some people it is all they can do to concentrate on other cars. Please don't yell at cars. You never know who is crazy.

Next door to Cambridge, in Arlington, there is a popular bike path, that is used year-round by cyclists, joggers, walkers and parents taking babies out for an airing. At one point, it crosses a busy road. There is a crosswalk there. And a sign warning motorists that there is a crosswalk ahead.

It took me months after moving there to anticipate that someone might step into the crosswalk as I was driving down the street. They have very carefully landscaped the area so that you can't see there is a bikepath there, unless you are directly in line with it. There are bushes and other plantings, so it looks just like the front yards of the houses on either side of the path. I remember thinking at one point, "There should be a warning sign for drivers along here." The next time I took that street, I was looking very carefully and I noticed that, among the many street signs on that stretch of road, there was indeed a sign indicating a crosswalk was ahead.

But the combination of the landscaping hiding the entrance to the path and the sign being buried among all the other signs, and there was no real warning to drivers that there was a lot of foot/bike/stroller traffic right there. And it was nowhere near an intersection. In general, I'm a pretty careful driver and I pay attention to signs, so if I was missing the entrance of the bike path, I'm sure a lot of other drivers were as well. And I used the bike path, so I knew it was there.

So I'm wondering if part of the problem the OP is experiencing is that there aren't enough clues for drivers to indicate that they need to be more careful along that stretch of road. If they aren't expecting pedestrians, and the road itself isn't sending signals to them to expect them, maybe more or better signs or some different landscaping might help.

So I'm wondering if part of the problem the OP is experiencing is that there aren't enough clues for drivers to indicate that they need to be more careful along that stretch of road. If they aren't expecting pedestrians, and the road itself isn't sending signals to them to expect them, maybe more or better signs or some different landscaping might help.

An actual cross walk sign might help, but the road is pretty clear while you are on it. In this incident today if they had not seen me they should have seen the police car stopped coming towards them. I didn't enter the cross walk this time. I was waiting on the side walk for them to stop while they decided to pass me instead and they were both ticketed.

My husband encounters this 4 out of 5 days a week on his way to work. MAJOR intersection with OBVIOUS crosswalks and signals. There are vehicle--pedestrian accidents there regularly. In fact a city bus struck and killed a pedestrian in that crosswalk last year. I have begged my dh to use another intersection to cross the street.

I used to live in an area where drivers would actively break road laws to try to hit me. I'm talking, running a red light and driving over a traffic island while yelling obscenities. This used to happen about once a day. Although, truth be told, it was worse when I had a bike with me (even if I was walking it beside me--and no, I never rode on the road, always in shared pedestrian/bike paths).

There is nothing you can do in this situation except walk away. I am not about to thank someone for deciding at the last moment to act responsibly enough not to kill me through either recklessness or actual intent. I will not acknowledge their action as good, because frankly, it is very much not good enough. You don't get a prize for being substandard.

I know that with the drivers who would try to hit me, any reaction at all (disbelief, shock, fear, etc.) would encourage them. I'd just walk briskly away and ignore their shouted accusations ("can't you see where I'm driving, you stupid b****!??")

If a driver has to skid to a sudden stop to let you cross, either they were speeding, not paying attention, or you walked out too suddenly into the crosswalk. I'm not saying this is what the OP did, but I nearly hit someone in a crosswalk the other day when they strode out purposefully without warning and I was going a normal speed, but I was so close I had to slam on the brakes. Safe pedestrian behaviour is to stop at the curb, stick a foot out tentatively and make it obvious you intend to cross. And don't do it until you can see that a driver intend to slow down. People can't always just stop on a dime.

So I was about to cross the street again today at the cross walk. On the opposite side of road a police officer stopped foe me. Two drives decided to blow past me. The cop turned around, pulled both over, and gave them both tickets.

I like it! This happened to me once. I was crossing and already through the nearest lane when someone decided to just keep going through the middle lane. Unluckily for him, a cop was behind him.